jaweb جاوب
Moroccan Darija · verb
“jaweb” (جاوب) is a verb in Moroccan Darija meaning to answer (a question).
Meanings
- to answer (a question)
- to answer the phone
- to talk back, answer insolently
Usage
Jaweb means "to answer". The question is introduced with "3la": "jaweb 3la had sso2al". The person being answered is a direct object: "jawbo" (answer him). For the phone, say "jaweb f ttilifoun" or simply "jaweb". The verb also carries a nuance of "talking back": "kayjaweb bah" is said of a child who answers his father insolently. The present is "kayjaweb" and the related noun is "jawab" (answer). Note: the verb is also used for a letter or a message.
Example
جاوب على هاد السؤال
jawb 3la had so2al
“Answer this question.”
Conjugation
Forms as recorded in DODa and reproduced in its spelling, which often leaves out short vowels.
| Imperfective (present) | Perfective (past) | Imperative | |
|---|---|---|---|
| ana (I) | kanjawb | jawbt | |
| nta (you, m.) | katjawb | jawbti | jawb |
| nti (you, f.) | katjawbi | jawbti | jawbi |
| howa (he) | kayjawb | jawb | |
| hiya (she) | katjawb | jawbat | |
| 7na (we) | kanjawbo | jawbna | |
| ntouma (you, pl.) | katjawbo | jawbto | jawbo |
| homa (they) | kayjawbo | jawbo |
How to write it in Latin letters
In Arabizi, Darija written in Latin letters, you will find “jaweb” but also “jawb” and “jawab”. No spelling is official: people write the sounds as they hear them.
Type “jaweb” on the Arabic keyboard
In Tunisian Derja
Spelt the same way in Arabic, the word also exists in Tunisian Derja, where it means “to answer, to reply”; “answer, reply (noun: jweb)”: jeweb in Tunisian.